All the main banks in Ireland now have some sort of transaction or admin fees on current accounts. But – there are still ways to avoid some of these bank charges. We have carried out a a comparison of the various current account charges so you can work out which is the cheapest bank for you and how you can still get Free Banking. These figures were checked in November 2016.

PTSB (Explore Account)
The new PTSB Explore current account has a €12 quarterly account maintenance fee ( €48 a year) and no day to day transaction fees. But – they also offer cash rewards such as 1oc for every time you use your debit card to buy something. (You would have to use it 40 times a month to cancel out the account charges.) They also offer cashback on payments of bills to specific companies by direct debit. More about the PTSB Cashback Current Account here

EBS Moneymanager – Cheapest Bank Account for low usage
EBS don’t currently charge any admin fees. They charge 30c for an ATM withdrawal or for a cash withdrawal in a branch . If you lodge at least €1,500 – or keep a balance of at least €500 they will not charge for the first 5 ATM withdrawals per month. EBS don’t currently charge for any other transactions. (Tip – use cashback in shops with your debit card to reduce the need to use ATMs)

AIB – Higher Transaction Fees but they can still be avoided .
AIB charge the following amounts for transactions on current accounts.
Automated Transactions (Direct Debit/ Standing Orders) 20c.
ATM withdrawals 35c
Machine Lodgements 35c
Cheque Processing 39c
Debit Card Transaction 20c
Over the Counter Transaction 39c
They will also charge an admin fee of €4.50 per quarter. (€18 a year)

All the above fees can be avoided at AIB by keeping a minimum of €2500 in the account at all times . Going below €2500 at any time in a quarter will result in charges being applied for the whole quarter.

KBC Extra – €6 a quarter charge (avoidable). Any customers who don’t lodge at least €2500 a month will be charged a €6 admin fee per quarter plus 30c for each ATM transaction and 30 cent per cheque lodged in the quarter.

Comparison of Bank Charges – based on the following monthly transactions:

AIB would charge the most – at €51.21 a quarter (€204.84 a year)
BOI is close behind at €34.70 per quarter (€138.80 a year)
KBC would charge €17.70 for the quarter (€70.80 a year)
EBS would charge €12.60 for the quarter. (€50.40 a year)
Ulster Bank would charge €12 for the quarter. (€48 a year)
PTSB would charge €7.50 for the quarter (€48 a year) (10c cashback on debit card purchases included)

Comparison of banks current account fees IF the balance is kept above the relevant limit.

PTSB €7.50(Balance not applicable) Could be lower if you pay bills for SSE or Sky by Direct Debit

So – it is still possible to get free banking at PTSB , AIB , KBC and Ulster Bank if you can manage to lodge a certain amount or keep your account balance above their limits or spend with your debit card over 40 times a month at PTSB
Be careful with AIB because a fall in your balance to just €2499 for just one day could end up costing you over €50 for one quarter. (based on sample transactions above).

Tips1) Keeping €3000 in an account just to avoid fees – means you could be losing out on possible interest of about €30 euro a year after DIRT . So bear that in mind when working out fees.2) There is nothing to stop you withdrawing money and relodging it to comply with a bank’s minimum lodgement rules. (Applies toKBC and EBS)

3) Use cashback in shops whe paying with debit cards instead of ATMs to reduce transaction fees (Could result in free banking at EBS) (Not relevant for PTSB Explore customers who should use their debit card as much as possible.)

Note: There is also a government stamp duty of 12c per ATM cash wiithdrawal. This is capped at €5 per year and was introduced in 2016 to replace a flat rate stamp duty .
More here about ATM Cashpoint Charges in Ireland

Mo Milan. They pay 1% interest a year on the balance upto 1500 euro. Any balance over 1500 gets no interest at all.
For example 1000 euro in the account for a yearwould get 1% of 1000 = €10. Less tax = €6.70.
500 euro in the account for a year would get half that amount.
Hope this is clear now?